Nathan Cleary was voted the man of the match in State of Origin Game 2 after an inspired performance for the Blues against the Queensland Maroons setting up a mouth-watering decider in Brisbane.
After Queensland won Game 1, the Blues needed someone to step up and Cleary brushed aside a disappointing Sydney outing and plenty of criticism in the media to show his prowess.
The Blues best ever Origin halfback, Andrew Johns, led the tributes after Cleary was the cornerstone of the 44-12 thumping.
“He was incredible tonight. What he is doing at his age as a halfback … there hasn’t been a halfback who has done that in Origin,” said Johns.
“His trajectory is going up and up. Some of these passes, his kicking, his running game, he is controlling the tempo of the game. He knows when to accelerate the team. It was a masterclass.
“When he came into Origin, the only knock I had on Nathan was his creativity, playing within the structure, not taking risks. He is doing it now. He is playing like a halfback who has played at this level for 10 years. He had it on a string tonight. And to do it against the truly elite, he pulled their pants down so many times.”
Cleary set up the Blues first try of the night with a great grubber that found Matt Burton who also had an amazing game on debut.
Cleary scored two tries himself in the second half as the Blues ran riot.
His tally of 24 points for the match was the second-best effort by a NSW player in history behind Ryan Girdler.
Perhaps more impressively, Cleary has now moved up to third for the most points for NSW in Origin with 84 points.
Only Andrew Johns (94) and Michael O’Connor (129) are ahead of him.
“Obviously we’re very happy, I’m just so stoked for Burto (Matt Burton) too, what a debut!” Cleary told the ABC.
“We knew we had a job to do, just really happy with that. One to go now.”
Cleary addressed the criticism he received after a lacklustre first game.
“Not so much the criticism, more so the fact I knew I could be better, as a group we could be better,” he told Channel 9.
“I just try and play my best for my family and teammates and the state we are representing. I’m very luckyand blessed to wear this jersey and now we have one more to go. Looking forward to that.”
“I think we can enjoy this, but we can’t be too pleased with ourselves. We have to keep working to be better. That was the statement from the last game. We have to be hungry and want it. There is one game to go. Tonight is great and we will enjoy this but there is still a job to do.”
Former State of Origin coach Phil Gould was another blown away by Cleary’s brilliance.
“His strengths were his running game, support game and kicking game and for a kid, he had great defence,” said Gould.
“Halfbacks can struggle in that area. Nathan has never really struggled in defence. I think that second half tonight was one of the truly great halfback performances in Origin history.
“It ranks up there with the best of all time in what he did in that period. In the first half he was a little frantic and side to side and trying to find something and a grubber kick to Burton got a spark in him and all of a sudden he started to tear Queensland apart.
“The two plays I thought were terrific were the early kicks, the 40-20 down to the corner and the early chip kick down in this corner which got Ponga in goal and they scored from the line drop out.
“Then he got into rhythm, the over the top pass, the dummy, the show and go and he played off the back of good forwards. As the game went on, he got into another stratosphere.”
His captain James Tedesco said Cleary copped unfair criticism after Queensland’s win in game one.
“It shows what a champion player he is,” said Tedesco. “He comes out in game 2 and puts on a clinic with a lot of pressure on him. He is one hell of a player.”
R Pradella
Guest
Perhaps you should go to Specsavers....he was by far the best on the ground....your eyes are failing you badly....end of story.....
Seymour Richard
Guest
I actually thought he gave QLD a couple of pressure relieving penalties on the 1st half at critical times , and one was against a blues player for being too rough :laughing: . However, he may have failed to advise the Qld players to hold onto the NSW props after breaking from the scrum this game though, so perhaps some part of the victory can be attributed to him.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Yeah, poor old Ash had a shocker missed 54 tackles, zero 40/20’s, pizzly line breaks, should’ve covered that kick on the inside that was 6 for Burton, and the 3 tries from the halfs when they walked thru the middle of the ruck.. the kick off, getting himself stripped twice.. shocker. The rest of the side was outstanding.
Tony
Roar Guru
Beating QLD is all the sweeter when their fans blame the referee for a 32 point loss
Tony
Roar Guru
:shocked:
Womblat
Guest
What a crock. I think those worshipping Cleary have his name mixed up with Klein. We all know NRL is a business before it is a sport. If you want to see Rugby League the sport go to your local game. This is all about the money. Klein would have been told in no uncertain terms "make a decider". That's where the money is. The problem is he didn't just nudge the game at critical moments, like most NRL referees do each week for that same purpose. He drove it off the road like an overzealous cop doing a PIT manouver to someone on a bicycle. The result was obvious. The obliteration that followed left even many Blues supporters feeling "meh". That's what happens when sport strays out of it's lane. I'm not saying he isn't a great player but if you think this was all about Cleary and his glorious omniscience you are kidding yourself.
Coastyboi
Guest
“Pulled their pants down.” & “Sucked the juice out of Queensland.” Am I reading The Roar headlines correctly?